Nassau County offers free tire disposal Nov. 7 in Callahan

Nassau County will open its gates for free tire disposal on Saturday, November 7, offering residents a chance to clear out old tires that have piled up in garages, sheds, and yards across the county. The Waste Tire Amnesty Day runs from 8:30 a. m. to noon at the Nassau County Convenience Recycle Center on Landfill Road in Callahan.

The county will accept up to 15 car and light truck tires per household at no charge during the one-day event. The program closes at noon or when the tire trailer reaches capacity, whichever comes first. County officials announced the event on October 26.

What's happening

The amnesty day takes place Saturday, November 7, 2026, at the Nassau County Convenience Recycle Center, located at 46026 Landfill Road in Callahan. Hours are 8:30 a. m. to noon, though collection will end early if the tire trailer fills before midday.

Residents may bring up to 15 car and light truck tires per household. Proof of Nassau County residency is required at drop-off. Tires must be off the rim and free of debris. Commercial loads are not accepted.

Communications Officer Sabrina Robertson announced the event, noting that proper tire disposal helps protect the community and environment.

Why tire amnesty matters for Nassau County

Tire amnesty events address a persistent rural-county challenge: illegal tire dumping on vacant land, roadside ditches, and wooded parcels. Abandoned tires collect rainwater and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which carry diseases including West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis. A single tire can produce thousands of mosquito larvae in standing water.

Tires dumped in Nassau County's waterways and wetlands — which feed the St. Marys River, Nassau River, and Amelia River basins — leach contaminants as they degrade. The rubber and steel belting break down slowly, releasing oils and heavy metals into soils and surface water. The county's low-lying topography and high water table mean that runoff from tire piles can reach sensitive estuarine systems relatively quickly.

Free disposal events reduce the incentive for illegal dumping, which becomes costlier as the county grows. Clearing illegal tire piles from private and public land typically falls to county code enforcement or property owners, and disposal fees at commercial facilities can run several dollars per tire. For residents who have accumulated tires from years of vehicle ownership — or inherited them with a property purchase — the cost to dispose of a dozen or more tires can be prohibitive.

Nassau County is among Florida's fastest-growing counties, adding thousands of new residents in developments such as Wildlight and along the A1A and State Road 200 corridors. Growth brings more vehicles, more tire changes, and more disposal demand. Tire retailers and auto shops handle disposal for tires they replace, but homeowners who change their own tires or buy used vehicles often have no convenient, affordable disposal option.

Tire recycling and Florida law

Florida law prohibits disposing of whole tires in landfills, so counties and waste haulers must manage tires separately. Collected tires are typically transported to processors that shred them for use in rubberized asphalt, playground surfacing, mulch, and fuel for cement kilns and industrial boilers. Tire-derived fuel burns hotter than coal and is widely used in Florida's manufacturing sector.

Nassau County, like most Florida counties, contracts with private haulers and processors to manage waste tires. The costs are funded through a combination of county solid-waste budgets and fees paid by tire retailers under Florida's tire-fee program, which assesses $1 per new tire sold to support collection and recycling infrastructure statewide.

Amnesty events leverage this funding to offer periodic free drop-offs for residents, concentrating collection in a single day to control logistics and costs. The tire trailer at the Callahan site has a fixed capacity, which is why the event ends when the trailer is full. In past years, tire amnesty days in Florida counties have filled trailers in as little as two to three hours when turnout is strong, though the county has not disclosed the trailer's specific tire capacity for this event.

What residents need to know

Residents planning to take advantage of the November 7 event should bring proof of Nassau County residency — typically a driver's license, utility bill, or property-tax statement showing a Nassau address. Tires must be removed from rims before drop-off; the county will not accept mounted tires. Tires should also be free of mud, debris, and standing water.

The 15-tire-per-household limit applies to car and light truck tires. The county has not specified whether larger tires from farm equipment, RVs, or trailers are eligible, so residents with such tires may want to contact the county solid-waste office in advance to confirm. Commercial haulers, tire shops, and landscaping or construction businesses are not eligible; the amnesty is limited to household waste.

The Callahan Convenience Recycle Center is the county's primary drop-off facility for residents and also accepts standard recyclables, electronics, and household hazardous waste during regular operating hours. The center is located off U. S. Highway 1 in western Nassau County, roughly equidistant from Yulee, Fernandina Beach, and Hilliard.

Residents who cannot make the November 7 window may need to wait for the next amnesty event or pay for disposal at a private tire retailer or waste facility. Tire-disposal fees at commercial outlets in Northeast Florida typically range from three to five dollars per passenger tire and more for larger truck tires.

What happens next

The event is scheduled for a single day, November 7, and no registration or appointment is required. Residents should plan to arrive before noon, but early arrival is advisable if they want to ensure the trailer has not yet reached capacity. The county has not announced whether additional amnesty days are planned for 2026 or early 2027.

Nassau County has not released an estimate of how many tires it expects to collect, but amnesty events in similarly sized Florida counties have gathered several thousand tires in a single day. The collected tires will be transported to a contracted processing facility for shredding and recycling in accordance with Florida Department of Environmental Protection regulations.

As Nassau County continues to urbanize along its eastern and northern edges — Wildlight alone is planned for more than 10,000 homes at buildout — managing everyday waste streams such as tires, electronics, and hazardous materials will remain a front-burner issue for county government. Free amnesty days are one tool to keep illegal dumping in check and protect the rural landscapes and waterways that remain central to the county's identity and environmental health.